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Is  The  Bible 

Scientifically 

Correct? 


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^  ^ 

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FREDERICK  ERDMAN 


ALL  through  the  Bible,  there  are  frequent 
statements  involving  a  number  of  the  sci- 
ences. If  these  statements  are  true  accord- 
ing to  modern  science,  it  proves  that  the 
Bible  is  not  only  scientifically  correct,  but 
that  it  repeatedly  anticipates  modern  science  by  2,000  to 
3,500  years. 

1.    The  Bible  is  Archeologically  and  Histori- 
cally Correct. 

"History  lies  at  the  root  of  all  science"    (Carlyle) . 

The  historical  accuracy  of  the  Bible  has  been  confirmed 
in  a  multitude  of  instances  whenever  any  reliable  profane 
records  have  been  found.  This  has  been  true,  even  "in 
many  instances  which  were  formerly,  for  lack  of  in- 
formation, regarded  as  difficult  or  suspicious"  (W.  J. 
Beecher) . 

"The  almost  universal  inaccuracy  and  unreliability  of 
the  Greek  and  Arab  historians  with  reference  to  the  kings 
of  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Babylonia  is  in  glaring  contrast 
with  the  exactness  and  trustworthiness  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible"  (R.  D.  Wilson).  Even  as  far  back  as  Genesis  14, 
this  accuracy  has  been  confirmed.  The  names  of  kings 
with  whom  Abraham  fought  have  been  found  among  the 
inscriptions. 

In  its  lists  of  the  names  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  Babylon, 
Persia,  Damascus,  Tyre,  Moab,  Greece,  and  Rome,  the 
Bible  has  proved  to  be  correct  in  time,  order,  and  orthog- 
raphy. If  the  Old  Testament  writers  were  so  accurate  in 
spelling  the  names  even  of  heathen  kings,  they  logically 
should  be  trusted  in  other  respects. 

Until  the  comparatively  recent  archeological  discoveries, 
any   child,    who   believed   in   the   Bible,    knew   facts  about 


Assyria,  Egypt,  and  Babylon  which  were  not  known  by 
the  greatest  scholars  who  rejected  the  Bible.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  historically,  the  Bible  is  not  only  pre- 
eminently reliable,  but  has  anticipated  many  of  the  latest 
discoveries  of  archeology  by  thousands  of  years. 

2.  The  Bible  is  Geographically  Correct. 
The  many   geographical   accuracies   of  the  Bible   which 

have  been  vindicated  after  centuries  of  attack  should  prove 
the  temerity  of  those  who  attack  the  Bible  in  other  de- 
partments. The  Bible  has  always  been  a  valuable  guide 
book  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  many  books,  notably  The 
Land  and  the  Book  by  Thomson,  have  shown  the 
accuracy  of  the  geographical  references,  proving  that  they 
could  only  have  been  written  by  an  eyewitness. 

The  capture  of  Michmash  in  Palestine  in  the  World 
War  by  Major  Gilbert,  described  in  The  Romance  of  the 
Last  Crusade,  was  the  result  of  his  reading  the  account  of 
the  capture  of  Michmash  in  1  Samuel  14:1-13,  written 
3,000  vears  before. 

3.  The  Bible  is  Bacteriologically  Correct. 

Quarantine  in  the  Bible.  Beginning  with  the 
lowest  forms  of  animal  life,  especially  those  which  affect 
human  life,  we  see  how  very  practically  the  Bible  has 
anticipated  the  latest  discoveries  of  modern  science. 

Some  3,500  years  ago,  Moses  instituted  the  quarantine 
for  contagious  diseases — leprosy,  for  example — and  this 
is,  at  the  present  time,  the  most  important  and  successful 
factor  in  controlling  all  contagious  diseases.  In  this 
respect,  the  Bible  was  3.500  years  ahead  of  modern  "sci- 
ence." Whether  human  beings  can  survive  being  inocu- 
lated for  every  micro-organism  discovered,  is  an  open 
question. 


Modern  scientific  methods  of  disinfection  are  very  super- 
ficial compared  with  those  of  Moses.  He  required  even 
the  plaster  of  a  house  to  be  scraped  off. 

Pure  Food  Laws.  The  Mosaic  regulations  regarding 
food  excluded  all  the  scavenger  birds,  animals,  and  fishes, 
the  flesh  of  which,  in  hot  countries,  is  a  great  menace  to 
the  health.  This  anticipates  many  of  the  most  recent  bac- 
teriological  discoveries. 

Avoiding  Infection.  Ihe  disposal  of  dead  animals 
and  all  refuse  matter  by  immediate  burying  in  the  sand 
as  a  prevention  of  disease,  is  an  object  lesson  to  the  people 
in  camps,  even  in  the  United  States.  The  danger  of 
contact  with  any  sores  or  discharges  or  dead  bodies,  the 
burning  of  infected  materials,  the  importance  of  washing 
in  running  water  all  anticipated  by  3.500  years  the  dis- 
coveries of  modern   bacteriologists. 

In  view  of  the  filth  in  the  slums  of  our  best  cities,  it 
is  rather  humorous  to  call  the  Bible  unscientific,  since  re- 
moving filth  would  prevent  disease  which,  otherwise,  no 
amount  of  vaccination  or  inoculation  could  ever  prevent. 

"The  only  successful  attempt  yet  made  to  connect  hy- 
giene with  the  social  order  was  made  by  Moses,  who 
interwove  its  requirements  with  those  of  religion." — 
Munger. 

Observing  the  social  regulations  of  Moses  is  the  only 
possible  means  of  preventing  social  disease.  The  attempt 
of  modern  science  to  control  social  diseases  by  germicides 
can  only  increase  sin  and  disease. 

Antisepsis.  After  the  discovery  of  antiseptics,  sur- 
geons used  very  powerful  antisepsis.  Then  it  was  ob- 
served that  powerful  antiseptics  destroyed  not  only  the 
infection,    but   also    fresh-forming    tissue;    therefore,    they 


have  been  using  less  destructive  antiseptics.  Alcohol  is 
now  recognized  as  a  very  excellent  general  antiseptic.  Olive 
oil  is  recognized  as  a  very  healing  substance.  Therefore, 
when  the  Good  Samaritan  used  oil  and  wine  on  the  man's 
wounds,  he  was  using  a  most  sensible  and  available  and 
up-to-date  remedy.  According  to  the  Journal  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  in  1926,  surgeons  of  Prague 
have  abandoned  the  use  of  all  other  antiseptics  for  steriliz- 
ing the  hands  in  favor  of  denatured  alcohol. 

Christ's  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  is  recorded  by 
Luke  the  Physician,  who  wrote  the  two  longest  books  in 
the  New  Testament.  In  his  many  references  to  disease, 
there  is  only  one  subject  which  any  modern  physician 
could  criticize.  This  is  a  supernatural  fact  in  view  of 
what  contemporary  writers  wrote  on  such  subjects.  The 
one  exception  is  the  subject  of  demonology,  but  since 
it  is  the  demonology  taught  by  Christ,  the  objectors  must 
settle  that  with  their  Lord. 

4.    The  Bible  is  Physiologically  Correct. 

The  statement  in  Leviticus  17:11,  "The  life  of  the 
flesh  is  in  the  blood,"  is  the  most  comprehensive  and  up- 
to-date  physiological  generalization  that  has  ever  been 
made.  The  rate  of  the  flow  of  the  blood  through  the 
tissues  of  the  body  determines  the  normal  function  of 
every  tissue,  gland,  and  organ,  even  of  those  which  manu- 
facture the  constituents  of  the  blood.  It  determines  the 
health  and  the  recovery  from  disease  of  every  tissue  of  the 
body. 

All  disease,  according  to  eminent  pathologists,  is  coex- 
tensive with  malnutrition.  The  treatment  of  disease 
should,  therefore,  consist  primarily  in  the  restoration  of 
the  normal  rate  of  the  blood  flow.  Such  restoration  of 
normal   blood   flow   explains  all   the   benefici.^1   results   and 


the  many  striking  cures  which  have  been  produced  by 
physical  treatment,  as  well  as  by  any  system  of  physical 
culture. 

Nervous  Fatigue.  Contrary  to  the  physiological 
nonsense  of  some  scientists  who  try  to  prove  that  the 
brain  never  gets  tired,  but  quite  in  harmony  with  com- 
mon sense  and  the  facts,  is  the  fact  that  even  the  great 
law-giver,  Moses,  in  Exodus  18:18,  had  to  be  advised 
by  his  father-in-law,  Jethro,  to  appoint  assistants  so  as 
not  to  wear  himself  out.  Otherwise,  as  it  says  in  the 
Hebrew,   "Fading,  thou  shalt  fade." 

Danger  of  Chill.  "As  he  that  taketh  away  a  gar- 
ment in  cold  weather,  and  as  vinegar  upon  soda,  so  is  he 
that  singeth  songs  to  a  heavy  heart."  This  proverb 
of  Solomon,  Proverbs  25:20,  contains  a  scientific  law 
which  is  being  sadly  ignored  today  by  many,  to  the  de- 
struction of  their  health  and  lives.  It  means  that,  just  as 
"singing  songs  to  one  who  has  a  heavy  heart"  creates  a 
very  great  mental  disturbance,  and  as  vinegar  upon  soda 
or  nitre  produces  a  very  great  chemical  disturbance,  so 
"leaving  off  a  garment  in  cold  weather,"  produces  a  very 
great  physiological  disturbance. 

All  horse  jockeys  and  farmers  realize  that  the  chief 
cause  of  disease  among  all  domestic  animals,  from  the  race- 
horse to  the  chicken,  is  sudden  cooling  of  the  surface  of 
the  body.  Lazarus-Barlow,  the  celebrated  pathologist, 
says  even  of  infectious  disease  that  "chill  predisposes  the 
organism  to  the  invasion  of  micro-organisms."  But  the 
discovery  of  microbes  and  the  many  substances  in  the 
blood,  secreted  by  many  glands  (all  of  which,  however, 
function  according  to  their  blood  supply,  and  are  there- 
fore usually  a  secondary  consideration)  has  considerably 
diverted  the  attention  of  the  modern  scientist  from  the 
immediate  practical  cause  of  many  diseases,  which  is  cold, 
commonly  from  carelessness  in  dressing. 
7 


The  primal  curse  on  woman  is  still  true.  Even  with 
modern  scientific  aids,  most  mothers  in  civilized  countries, 
especially  if  they  have  been  going  without  sufficient  clothes, 
food,  and  sleep,  will  have  even  a  worse  time  than  mothers 
among   any    primitive   people. 

The  Biblical  allusion  to  the  marrow  of  the  bones  as  a 
sign  of  health  is  quite  up-to-date  in  view  of  the  latest 
discoveries  of  the  origin  of  the  blood  cells  of  the  body. 
The  warnings  against  eating  "too  much  honey"  agree 
with  the  opinion  of  food  experts  in  regard  to  too  much 
sugar. 

Value  of  Exercise.  "The  sleep  of  the  laboring 
man  is  sweet  whether  he  eat  much  or  little"  (Eccl.  5:12). 
The  physiology  involved  in  this  verse  is  of  enormous 
practical  value.  Exercise  is  absolutely  essential  not  only 
to  the  health  of  the  body  in  general,  but  of  the  brain  in 
particular.  Most  modern  inventions,  from  the  automo- 
bile to  the  movies  and  the  radio,  have  a  tendency  to  dilate 
the  cerebral  blood-vessels  or  to  keep  people  from  walking, 
which  is  the  best  method  of  relieving  the  pressure  of  blood 
in  the  cerebral  vessels.  Modern  people  expect  to  do 
everything  possible  to  disturb  the  cerebral  circulation,  and 
then  expect  to  sleep  properly  and  escape  all  the  increasing 
nervous  disorders. 

In  view  of  the  brief  popularity  of  any  drug,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  proofs  of  scientific  reliability  of  the  Bible 
is  the  fact  that  none  of  the  Bible  writers  have  anything 
to  say  in  favor  of  internal  medicine.  "A  merry  heart 
doeth  good  like  a  medicine"  would  seem  to  be  an  excep- 
tion, but  the  Hebrew  says  nothing  about  medicine,  but 
"maketh  good  healing."  Contrast  the  wild  prescriptions 
in  other  literature  as  old  as  the  Bible. 


In  regard  to  physical  culture,  the  Bible  is  quite  up-to- 
date  but  gives  the  highest  motives.  In  the  Revised 
Version  of  1  Timothy  4:8,  we  read,  "Bodily  exercise  is 
profitable  for  a  little,  but  godliness  is  profitable  for  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the  life  which  now  is  and  of 
that  which  is  to  come."  1  Corinthians  9:25-27,  "Every 
man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate  in  all 
things:  Now  they  do  it  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown 
but  we  an  incorruptible.  But  I  keep  under  my  body 
and  bring  it  into  subjection."  These  verses  include  all 
the  benefits  of  every  system  of  physical  culture.  "Keeping 
the  body  under"  would  save,  if  practised,  the  endless 
destruction  of  lives  by  pleasure-seeking. 

Red  Cross  Health  Rules.  The  German  Red  Cross 
published  ten  Rules  of  Health  in  1925.  These  most 
modern  scientific  rules  of  health  would  all,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  be  observed  if  the  foregoing  Bible  instruc- 
tions were  followed.  The  bathing  prescribed  for  cleanli- 
ness in  the  Old  Testament,  the  diet,  the  out-of-door  life 
and  exercise  involved  in  each  man's  having  his  own  "vine 
and  fig  tree"  would  include  most  of  these  modern  rules. 
The  social  diseases  would  be  wiped  out,  the  children  would 
be  cared  for,  all  the  rules,  except  those  specifically  for  the 
teeth,  would  be  observed,  if  people  practiced  the  Bible 
rules;  and  good  health  would  do  more  for  the  teeth  than 
tooth  brushes. 

5.    The  Bible  is  Psychologically  Correct. 

Janet,  the  French  psychologist,  says,  as  a  result  of  all 
his  studies  and  researches,  that  the  greatest  preventive  of 
mental  and  nervous  disorders  is  keeping  a  quiet  mind. 
This  wonderful  modern  scientific  discovery  is  3.000  years 
later  than  Proverbs  14:30  (R.V.),  "A  tranquil  mind  is 
the  life  of  the  flesh." 

9 


The  Bible  is  the  only  safe  psychological  guide,  bt..aust 
it  teaches  that  man  consists  of  "body,   soul,  and  spirit." 

Modern  "new  psychology,"  because  it  is  based  on  evo- 
lution, ignores  or  denies  the  existence  of  man's  spirit. 
This  is  pure  materialism  and  destroys  the  moral  sense  of 
any  one  who  actually  believes  it.  No  nation  can  long 
endure  if  its  youth  are  taught  that  our  ideas  of  morality 
and  our  ideas  of  God  are  "herd  complexes":  and  "if  the 
foundations  are  destroyed,   what   can   the   righteous  do?" 

6.  The  Bible  is  the  Only  Safe  Guide  in  Phi- 
losophy. 

Philosophy  is  not  science,  but  it  is  supposed  to  be 
based  on  science.  Therefore,  unless  the  philosophy  of 
the  Bible  is  true,  the  Bible  cannot  be  considered  scientific. 

Human  philosophy  consists  of  an  endless  succession  of 
absolutely  contradictory  theories.  Even  in  the  first  cen- 
tury, it  was  a  common  saying,  "Nothing  is  so  absurd  as 
not  to  have  been  said  by  some  philosopher."  The 
pendulum  of  human  wisdom  swings  from  pantheism  to 
materialism.  The  Bible  contains  the  only  complete  and 
balanced  system  of  philosophy.  The  Bible  verse,  "In 
him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being,"  gives  the 
humblest  Christian  the  highest  concept  of  pantheism,  but 
the  first  verse  in  the  Bible  also  teaches  the  transcendence 
of  God,  "In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth."  This  same  verse,  therefore,  excludes  both 
pantheism  and  materialism.  Many  of  the  philosophers  of 
the  past  were  materialists  and  most  of  the  modern  ones, 
because  they  accept  evolution,  are  materialists.  Material- 
ism, if  believed,  means  atheism  and  atheism  destroys 
human  responsibility.  The  Bible,  by  teaching  moral 
responsibility,  alone  can  save  men  from  the  fatalism  and 
folly  of  pantheism  and  materialism. 
10 


Many  philosophers  were  idealists  and  denied  the  reality 
of  matter  and  taught  that  mind  is  the  only  entity.  The 
Bible  transcends  this  idea  by  teaching  "that  we  look  not 
at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  arc 
not  seen;  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but 
the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal"  (2  Cor.  4:18). 
The  Bible  contains  in  every  way  the  loftiest,  sanest,  and 
only  balanced  system  of  philosophy  in  the  world. 

The  Bible  gives  the  only  possible  explanation  of  the 
Jew.  The  greatest  philosophers  have  admitted  their  in- 
ability to  explain  Jewish  history.  The  Bible  outlined 
Jewish  history  before  the  events. 

Facts  have  disproved  the  theories  of  most  wise  men 
about  the  Jew,  and  facts  have  always  confirmed  the 
accuracy   of  the  Bible. 

7.   Political  Economy  of  the  Bible. 

The  practical  political  economy  of  the  Bible,  as  found 
in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  alone,  is  infinitely  more  scientific 
than  all  the  wild  Utopian  theories  of  the  wisest  men  of 
this  world.  Plato's  attempt  to  outline  a  perfect  state 
was  based  on  infanticide,  adultery,  and  other  crimes  and 
follies.  The  latest  human  attempt  to  give  the  greatest 
freedom  to  man  has  produced  in  Russia  the  most  bloody 
tyranny  the  world  has  known. 

The  Bible  teaches,  and  the  history  of  nations  who  have 
tried  at  all  to  practice  Christianity  has  proved,  that  it  is 
not  the  form  of  government  but  the  character  of  the 
people  which  makes  a  nation  happy  and  prosperous.  It 
was  the  Christian  virtues  of  the  pioneers  of  this  country 
which  produced  the  political  economy  and  resulting  pros- 
perity of  this  country. 

Even  the  form  of  government  of  this  country  is  due 
to   the   Bible,   and.    according   to   the   historian,    Bancroft. 

11 


this  was  brought  about  largely  through  John  Calvin.  It 
was  the  religious  beliefs  of  the  pioneers  which  produced 
the  Constitution,  as  Joseph  Cook  said,  "The  unwritten 
Constitution  produced  the  v/ritten  Constitution."  If  the 
statesmen  and  politicians  of  any  nation  fail  to  learn  from 
the  Bible  that  "righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,"  then  the 
proudest  empires  go  down  in  rum. 

As  to  the  relation  of  capital  and  labor,  the  Bible  makes 
kindness  and  generosity  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate  the 
test  of  one's  religion  and  predicts  punishment  in  the  next 
world,  if  not  in  this,  for  those  who  oppress  the  poor  and 
the  working  man;  but  it  also  says,  "He  also  that  is  sloth- 
ful in  his  work  is  brother  to  him  that  is  a  greater  waster" 
(Prov.  18:9).  That  is,  the  union  man  who  tries  to 
hold  back  production  is  as  destructive  to  the  wealth  of 
the  nation  as  the  spendthrift. 

The  Book  of  Proverbs  states  in  the  greatest  possible 
variety  of  ways  that  prosperity  and  success  in  any  line  of 
enterprise  involves  hard,  continuous  work,  whereas  "all 
socialistic  schemes  now  being  put  forward  possess  this 
fatal  defect:  that  they  would  spread  among  the  people 
the  belief  that  they  could,  with  comparative  impunity. 
disregard  prudence,  self-denial,  and  the  other  most  essen- 
tial virtues"    (H.  Faucet,  "Standard  Dictionary") . 

The  Book  of  Proverbs,  if  practiced,  would  save  all  the 
mad  extravagance  and  folly  which  the  accumulation  of 
wealth  always  causes.  It  would  save  the  social  corrup- 
tion which  has  destroyed  most  nations  of  the  past  and  is 
undermining  the  health  of  our  own  Christian  nation.  The 
poverty  of  the  people  of  India  and  China  is  directly  due 
to  their  religious  belief  and  practices. 

If  men  believed  that  suffering,  poverty,  and  disease  are 
the   result   of  sin,   demagogues   would   have   no  chance   to 

12 


make  people  believe  that  a  form  of  government  or  capital 
is  to  blame  for  all  the  troubles  of  mankind.  There 
would  be  no  French  Revolution,  no  Russian  situation, 
no  political  troubles,  if  people  practiced  even  the  Book  of 
Proverbs.  If  the  knowledge  of  how  to  escape  all  pitfalls 
of  ignorance,  folly,  immorality,  and  atheism  which  de- 
stroy the  characters  and  lives  of  men  prematurely  deserves 
to  come  under  the  Department  of  Science,  then  the  Bible 
is  the  most  scientific  book  the  world  has  ever  had.  With- 
out this  science  of  life,  any  nation  and  all  its  science  goes 
to  destruction. 

8.    The  Pedagogics  of  the  Bible. 

The  pedagogics  of  the  Bible  are  the  only  safe  guide  to 
save  people  from  going  to  all  the  extremes  and  fads  with 
which  scientific  people  experiment  on  children,  and  there- 
fore with  the  future  of  nations.  American  educators 
know  that  it  is  impossible  to  have  the  discipline  in  our 
schools  which  obtains  in  English  schools,  because,  as  a 
rule.  Englishmen  believe  that  "foolishness  is  bound  in  the 
heart  of  a  child,  but  the  rod  of  correction  shall  drive  it 
far  from  him"    (Prov.   22   15). 

Abuse  of  corporal  punishment  is  no  excuse  for  the 
greater  folly  of  no  punishment.  Corporal  punishment 
is  carefully  safeguarded  in  the  Bible.  In  1  Thessalonians 
2:11,  we  arc  told  that  a  father  is  supposed  to  "exhort, 
comfort,  and  charge'  his  children.  In  Colossians  3:21, 
we  read,  "Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  anger, 
lest  they  be  discouraged." 

The  unrestrained  lawlessness  of  American  children  is 
the  necessary  precursor  of  lawlessness  in  adults.  In  Eng- 
land, murder  is  relatively  rare  because  crime  is  punished. 
In  America,  twelve  thousand  are  murdered  every  year, 
because  crime  is  not  punished. 

13 


In  the  Bible,  the  pedagogical  principle  of  repetition, 
"line  upon  line,  here  a  little,  there  a  little,"  is  empha- 
sized. The  people  were  commanded  to  teach  religious 
truths  as  follows:  "Thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently 
unto  thy  children  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sit- 
test  in  thine  house  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way 
and  when  thou  liest  down  and  when  thou  risest  up" 
CDeut.  6:7).  In  modern  scientific  America,  Protestant 
Sunday  School  children  get  about  twenty  hours  of  in- 
struction in  the  Bible  in  a  year.      What  can  one  expect? 

9.  The  Bible  is  Scientific  from  a  Legal  Stand- 
point. 

The  laws  of  Moses  are  the  basis  of  the  legal  codes  of 
all  enlightened  nations.  The  Ten  Commandments  of 
Moses  are  the  most  complete  and  fundamental,  and,  there- 
fore, scientific  statement  of  all  legal  relations  between  man 
and  man,  as  well  as  between  man  and  God. 

"The  Ten  Commandments  represent  to  us,  both  in 
fact  and  idea,  the  granite  foundation,  the  immovable 
mountain  upon  which  the  world  is  built  up." — Stanley, 
"Thoughts." 

Some  may  think  that  the  first  two  commandments  are 
somewhat  out-of-date;  the  most  popular  modern  clergy- 
men constantly  boast  that  their  God  "is  not  the  God  of 
the  Old  Testament,"  and  therefore  also,  we  must  conclude, 
not  the  God  of  Christ.  We  therefore  see  that  there  is  a 
universal  tendency  for  men  to  have  "other  gods." 

Thirteen  hundred  years  before  the  Magna  Charta,  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrin  protected  accused  persons  from  injus- 
tice. In  a  trial  involving  capital  punishment,  no  hearsay 
evidence  was  taken.  The  guilty  party  could  not  be 
sentenced  until  the  day  after  the  trial.  The  members  of 
the  Sanhedrin  voted  in  succession,  the  youngest  first,  not 

14 


to  be  influenced  by  the  elders.  The  whole  Sanhedrin 
had  to  fast  a  whole  day  before  carrying  out  an  adverse 
verdict. 

The  Ten  Commandments  are  the  most  concise  sum- 
mary of  all  the  laws  which  make  life  possible  in  any 
civilized  community.  Americans  owe  their  freedom  and 
their  ideas  of  liberty  to  the  Bible.  The  inscription  on 
the  Liberty  Bell,  "Proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the 
land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof,"  is  from  a  verse  in 
the  Bible.  In  lands  without  the  Bible,  attempts  to  attain 
human  liberty  have  produced  only  the  chaos  of  a  French 
Revolution  and  Russian   Bolshevism. 

The  so-called  "collapse  of  civilization"  in  the  United 
States  because  we  lead  the  world  in  murders  and  divorces 
is  no  argument  against  the  legal  value  of  the  Bible,  be- 
cause the  Bible  all  through  denounces  the  failure  to  punish 
wrongdoing  and  gives  this  as  the  reason  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  nations  in  the  past,  including  even  the  chosen 
people.  The  increase  in  crime  in  the  United  States  has 
been  also  simultaneous  with  the  rejection  even  by  many 
church  leaders  of  the  Bible  as  the  absolute  rule  of  faith 
and  practice. 

10.  The  Bible  is  Biographically  Correct. 
The  Bible  contains  the  most  reliable  biographies.  It 
tells  the  worst  things  even  about  some  of  its  best  char- 
acters. Biographers  usually  try  to  present  their  heroes  in 
the  best  possible  light.  Many  modern  biographers  have 
tried  to  present  their  heroes  in  the  worst  possible  light, 
either  to  appeal  to  a  depraved  public  for  financial  gain,  or 
because  they  love  to  "speak  evil  of  dignities."  The  Bible 
does  neither;  it  exposes  sin  in  order  to  warn  all  future 
generations  against  its  temporal  and  eternal  consequences 
and  to  prove  the  grace  of  God  to  repentant  sinners. 

15 


11.  Astronomy  of  the  Bible. 

The  Bible  urges  the  study  of  astronomy.  We  are 
often  exhorted  to  "consider  the  heavens";  but  if  the 
study  of  the  ever-widening  wonders  of  astronomy  gives 
one  no  more  than  a  greater  knowledge  of  mathematics  or 
of  optics;  if  one  cannot  say,  "The  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork"; 
that  man's  study  of  astronomy  has  been  a  failure.  Even 
in  the  use  of  the  proverbial  expression,  "as  numberless 
as  the  stars,"  the  Bible  is  confirmed  by  modern  science. 

The  Bible  is  scientifically  correct  as  to  the  position  of 
the  earth  in  space.  In  the  oldest  book  in  the  Bible,  wc 
read,  "He  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing"  (Job  26:7). 
The  verse  expresses  most  beautifully,  in  language  intelli- 
gible to  all  for  all  time,  the  position  of  the  world  in  the 
universe.  The  inspired  writer  evidently  had  knowledge 
not  possessed  by  the  authors  of  the  wild  and  grotesque 
cosmologies  of  other  people  of  his  day. 

As  to  the  lack  of  scientific  terminology  or  detail,  sup- 
pose any  Bible  writer  had  employed  any  terms  of  the 
Ptolemaic  or  Einstein  theories!  It  would  have  been  un- 
intelligible to  past  generations  or  foolish  or  behind  the 
times  and   unscientific  to  future  generations. 

12.  The  Bible  is  Meteorologically  Correct. 

There  are  many  references  in  the  Bible,  and  especially 
in  its  oldest  book,  to  the  composition  and  movements  of 
the  clouds,  and  to  rain,  snow,  and  hail.  After  consider- 
ing in  detail  all  these  references,  Sir  William  Dawson,  a 
most  careful  exegete  as  well  as  a  great  scientist,  wrote, 
p.  167,  The  Origin  of  the  World,  in  regard  to  the  thirty- 
sixth  and  thirty-seventh  chapters  of  Job,  "The  knowl- 
edge of  nature  that  existed  at  a  time  probably  anterior  to 
the  age  of  Moses — a  knowledge  far  superior  to  that 
which  we  find  in  the  works  of  many  modern  poets  and 

16 


CApositors.  and  accompanied  by  an  intense  appreciation  of 
the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  natural  objects." 

13.  Botany  in  the  Bible. 

The  Bible  encourages  the  study  of  botany.  Solomon 
knew  the  names  of  every  plant  from  the  "cedar  of 
Lebanon"  to  the  "hyssop  on  the  wall."  Who  does  to- 
day?    Also,  Christ  said,  "Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field." 

But  if  the  increasing  wonders  revealed  by  the  micro- 
scope and  other  means  of  botanical  study  do  not  teach 
one  the  wonders  of  the  providence  of  God,  if  one  does  not 
learn  to  believe,  "If  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field, 
which  today  is  and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall 
he  not  much  more  clothe  you?"  such  a  study  of  botany 
falls  far  short  of  the  purpose  for  which  a  man  was  given 
a  brain. 

There  are  no  mistakes  in  the  numerous  Biblical  allus- 
ions to  agricultural  methods.  Most  of  them  can  be  seen 
in  the  Orient  today. 

14.  The  Bible  is  Nautically  Scientific. 

The  Bible  account  of  the  voyages  and  shipwreck  of 
the  Apostle  Paul  contains  nothing  which  is  not  correct 
in  regard  to  navigation  in  sailing  vessels. 

Not  only  so,  but  Admiral  Nelson  won  the  battle  of 
Copenhagen  because  the  morning  before  the  battle  he  hap- 
pened to  read  the  account  of  Paul's  shipwreck.  The  use 
of  anchors  from  both  bow  and  stern,  the  method  by 
which  he  won  the  battle,  was  suggested  to  him  by  the 
reading  of  Acts  27.  He  was  able  to  out-maneuver  the 
enemy  and  maintain  the  line  of  battle  by  the  use  of  extra 
anchors.  This  illustrates  how  the  Bible  has  been  a  source 
of  wisdom  to  men  in  every  department  of  life  if  they 
"searched  for  it  as  for  hid  treasure." 

17 


15.  The  Bible  is  Zoologically  Correct. 

In  the  many  allusions  to  animal  life,  from  the  ant  to 
the  crocodile,  there  were  no  mistakes  in  natural  history  in 
the  Bible,  such  as  are  found  in  all  other  literature,  modern 
as  well  as  ancient.  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  says 
that  Job  gives  the  best  description  of  the  crocodile,  which 
has  ever  been  written. 

16.  The  Bible  is  Ethically  Correct. 
The  humanitarianism  of  the  Bible  is  scientific. 
Moses    wrote     (Lev.    19:18),    "Thou    shalt    love    thy 

neighbor  as  thyself."  This  surely  anticipated  all  modern 
humanitarian  movements  by  3,500  years.  The  Bible  is 
not  to  blame  if  Jews  and  Christians  delayed  so  many 
centuries  beginning  to  practice  its  commandments.  Since 
it  required  a  bloody  Civil  War  in  the  United  States  only 
a  few  decades  ago  to  abolish  slavery,  we  must  not  con- 
demn the  Old  Testament  characters  if  they  fail  to  measurfe 
up  to  Christian  standards  when  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
was  in  a  condition  of  incredible  cruelties  and  immoralities. 

Moses  also  anticipated  by  3,500  years  our  very  modern 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  when 
he  wrote,  "Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  when  he  tread- 
eth  out  the  corn"  (Deut.  25:4).  So  also  Solomon: 
"A  righteous  man  regards  the  life  of  his  beast,  but  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  wicked  arc  cruel"  (Prov.  12:10). 
"Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's  milk,"  is 
commanded  three  times.  Deuteronomy  22:6,  7  con- 
tains a  practical  command  for  the  protection  of  birds  dur- 
ing the  breeding  season:  "Thou  shalt  not  take  the  dam 
with  the  young,"  but  "thou  shalt  in  any  wise  let  the  dam 
go."  The  citizens  of  the  United  States  did  not  wake  up 
to  the  necessity  for  such  laws  until  the  practical  extermi- 
nation  of  invaluable  birds   and   animals.      Even   the   fail- 

18 


urc  to  cover  an  open  pit  or  well  was  penalized  (Ex. 
21:33-35). 

All  will  agree  that  the  Bible,  at  least  the  New  Testa- 
ment, contains  the  highest  ethics  to  be  found  in  the 
world.  But  even  the  first  book  of  the  Old  Testament, 
which  gives  so  much  space  to  the  story  of  Joseph,  sets  the 
highest  moral  standards  to  be  found  in  the  world.  The 
story  of  Ruth  gives  a  relationship  between  a  mother-in- 
law  and  a  daughter-in-law  which  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  even  in  a  Christian  country.  Job  exhibited  the 
greatest  patience.  Daniel  set  the  highest  standard  for 
courage.  This  subject  could  be  indefinitely  elaborated, 
but  one's  opinion  of  the  ethical  value  of  some  sections  of 
the  Bible  depends  largely  on  whether  one  believes  there  is 
any  moral  government  of  the  universe,  and  whether  sin 
deserves  punishment. 

If  a  man  had  escaped  from  the  cruelties  of  Egyptian 
slavery,  he  could  heartily  join  in  Miriam's  song  of 
triumph  over  the  Egyptians  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea. 
As  a  secular  writer  on  Carthage  remarked  after  viewing 
the  rows  of  urns  containing  the  ashes  of  children  burned 
alive  to  the  god  Molech.  one  could  sympathize  with  the 
threatenings  of  divine  punishment  by  Isaiah  and  other 
prophets  and  in  the  imprecatory  Psalms  on  the  nations 
surrounding  Israel,  since  their  highest  religious  practices 
consisted  in  burning  babes  alive  and  in  other  unspeakable 
abominations. 

As  to  the  polygamy  of  the  Old  Testament  characters, 
notably  Solomon's.  Christ  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
even  divorce  is  condemned  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis. 
"Therefore  shall  a  man  .  .  .  cleave  unto  his  wife."  Next, 
the  Bible  shows  how  Solomon's  sin  caused  centuries  of 
civil  war  and  final  destruction  of  the  whole  nation.  But. 
how  many  modern  men,  if  they  had  unlimited  power,  ana 

19 


if  polygamy  were  the  recognized  means  of  maintaining 
international  treaties,  and  if  it  were  encouraged  by  the 
clergy  as  well  as  by  the  politicians,  and  if  it  were  the 
custom  of  their  own  and  all  surrounding  nations,  would 
have  done  better  than  Solomon? 

After  2,000  years  of  Christian  ethics,  the  United 
States  leads  the  world  in  divorce. 

The  Bible  was  written  to  expose  human  depravity  and 
to  exhibit  the  mercy  of  God. 

1 7.    The  Bible  is  Biologically  Scientific. 

When  it  says  that  plants  and  animals  were  created, 
each  "after  its  kind,"  the  Bible  is  stating  a  fact  ot  human 
observation  covering  thousands  of  years.  Any  one  may 
watch  the  universal  tendency  of  the  most  highly  culti- 
vated plants  and  animals  to  revert  to  type.  Evolution 
will  always  be  beyond  observation,  and  its  supporters 
must  always  postulate  millions  of  years  and  resort  to  end- 
less rhetoric  to  maintain  their  theories. 

Darwin  undoubtedly  was  correct  in  concluding  that  all 
pigeons  were  descended  from  one  pair  of  pigeons,  and 
all  dogs  and  wolves  from  one  pair  of  ancestors.  Noah 
should  be  credited  for  understanding  this  biological  law 
thousands  of  years  ago  when  he  selected  the  animals  in 
pairs  to  go  into  the  ark.  Darwin  unintentionally  re- 
moved a  Bible  difficulty  for  some  people. 

The  Apostle  Paul  was  scientifically  correct  biologically 
when  he  had  the  courage  as  well  as  the  scientific  knowledge 
to  tell  the  proud  "earth-sprung"  Athenians,  who  looked 
down  on  all  other  nations  as  barbarians,  "God  hath  made 
of  one  blood  all  the  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all 
the  face  of  the  earth"  (Acts  17:26).  This  is  a  large 
biological  generalization,  centuries  ahead  of  science,  ac- 
cepted now  by  the  wise  men  of  the  world  as  a  fact,  al- 

20 


though  the  pride  of  most  people  makes  the  idea  unpopular 
if  color  is  involved. 

1  Corinthians  15:39  is  a  very  comprehensive  biological 
statement  which  the  latest  blood  tests  have  not  discredited: 
"All  flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh,  but  there  is  one  flesh  of 
man  and  another  flesh  of  beasts  and  another  flesh  of  birds 
and  another  of  fishes." 

18.  The  Bible  is  Ethnically  Correct. 

Discoveries  in  philology,  as  for  example,  that  the  Greek 
and  Latin  equivalent  for  our  word  "father"  is  "pater" 
and  the  German  "vater"  and  the  Sanskrit  "pitar,"  prove 
the  common  origin  of  widely  scattered  races.  The  Bible 
account  of  the  tower  of  Babel  anticipates  all  such  dis- 
coveries. 

As  Professor  Max  MuUer  wrote,  "It  is  possible  to 
point  out  radicals,  which,  under  various  changes  and 
disguises,  have  been  current  in  these  three  branches  (Tur- 
anian, Semitic,  and  Aryan  branches  of  speech)  ever  since 
their  first  separation." 

19.  The  Bible  is  Prophetically  Correct. 

The  most  remarkable  proof  of  the  supernatural  his- 
torical accuracy  of  the  Bible  is  the  fact  that  it  predicted 
even  minute  details  of  the  history  of  Egypt  more  than 
2,000  years  ahead  of  their  complete  fulfillment;  e.g., 
when  Egypt  was  the  wealthiest  and  one  of  the  most 
powerful  nations  of  the  world,  having  the  most  fertile 
soil  and  the  most  reliable  irrigation  system,  when  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  were  covered  with  vegetation,  with  a 
marvelous  canal  system  and  wonderful  fisheries  and  abun- 
dant wild  fowl,  when  its  skilled  workmen  were  superior 
to  any  in  subsequent  history,  and  the  architecture  of  its 
cities   the   most   substantial   the   world   has   known.    Isaiah 

21 


(chapter  19)  and  Ezekiel  (chapter  30)  predicted  that 
Egypt  would  gradually  be  diminished  in  power  until  it 
became  the  "basest  of  kingdoms";  that  "there  shall  no 
more  be  a  prince  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  (that  it  should 
suffer  under  foreign  rulers)  ;  that  Thebes  should  lie  broken 
up  but  not  destroyed,  but  that  Memphis  should  be  en- 
tirely destroyed;  that  the  canals  should  be  dried  up;  that 
the  vegetation  along  the  Nile  should  be  entirely  destroyed 
(its  banks  are  now  barren  mud,  although  they  are  very 
fertile)  ;  that  the  papyrus  and  lotus  (the  national  flowers 
of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt)  would  disappear;  that  the 
fisheries  would  cease  to  be  of  value,  and  that  the  wonder- 
ful industries  would  disappear. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  human  statesmen  never 
know  what  is  going  to  happen  tomorrow,  the  fulfillment 
of  all  these  minute  details  through  2,000  years,  besides 
many  more  concerning  all  the  nations  surrounding  Pales- 
tine, proves  a  supernatural  accuracy  in  the  Bible  which 
its  critics  cannot  face. 

The  Jews,  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  believed, 
and  even  the  Edomite  Herod  feared,  the  historical  accuracy 
of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  about  the  place  and  time 
of  Christ's  birth;  and  so  have  all  orthodox  Christians  be- 
lieved the  prophecies  about  many  details  of  His  life  and 
death.  Indeed,  the  early  church  consisted  exclusively  of 
Jews  who  accepted  Christ  as  their  Saviour  because,  as 
they  said,  they  believed  "we  have  found  him  of  whom 
Moses  in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did  write." 

20.    The  Bible  is  Geologically  Correct. 

According  to  Herbert  Spencer,  the  five  essential  con- 
cepts of  science  are  time,  space,  matter,  force,  and  motion. 
These  are  all  contained  in  the  first  two  verses  of  the 
Bible.      "In     the    beginning" — time;     "heavens" — space; 

22 


"earth" — matter;  "the  Spirit  of  God" — force;  "moved" 
— motion.  What  could  be  more  impressive,  more  remark- 
able, than  that  the  Bible  should  begin  with  the  five  essen- 
tial scientific  concepts  of  modern  science,  concepts  which 
may  be  understood  by  any  man! 

The  order  of  the  appearance  of  plants  and  animals  on 
this  earth,  given  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  is  exactly 
the  same  as  that  taught  by  scientists  of  the  twenieth 
century:  (1)  "grasses,"  plants  without  visible  seeds — the 
cryptogams;  (2)  "herbs  yielding  seeds" — the  phanero- 
gams; (3)  "fruit  trees  bearing  fruit";  (4)  "the  waters 
swarm  with  .  .  .  living  creatures" — fishes;  (5)  "birds"; 
(6)  "great  sea-monsters" — the  geological  reptiles;  (7) 
"living  creatures  of  the  earth" — wild  beasts;  (S) 
"cattle";     (9)    "man." 

Sir  J.  William  Dawson  discovered  the  lowest  form  of 
fossil  mentioned  in  our  "modern"  geological  table  in  the 
Standard  Dictionary.  He  was  a  most  exact  Bible  exegete 
as  well  as  a  celebrated  scientist,  and  had  carefully  studied 
every  phase  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  in  the  light  of 
modern  geology  and  called  it  "wonderful  history"  (The 
Origin  of  the  World,  p.  142).  He  spoke  also  of  "the 
strict  precision  of  language  which  everywhere  prevails  in 
this  ancient  document"  (p.  117).  Other  geologists, 
Arnold  Guyot  for  example,  have  made  similar  statements. 
Dawson  also  said,  "If  we  admit  that  the  Mosaic  day  cor- 
responds with  these  geological  periods,  it  would  be  im- 
possible better  to  characterize  their  creations  in  so  few 
words  adapted  to  popular  comprehension"    (p.   218). 

There  is  one  apparent  discrepancy  in  Genesis  1,  in  the 
King  James  Version,  where  whales  arc  mentioned  too 
early.     But  the  Hebrew  word  here  translated  "whales"  is 

23 


correctly  translated  "sea-monsters"  in  the  Revised  Version. 
Hence,  this  Bible  difficulty,  like  others,  is  due  to  man's 
ignorance  and  not  to  the  Bible.  Moses  was  therefore 
3,500  years  ahead  of  our  modern  geologists. 

Geological  Strata.  In  Psalm  104:5-9  is  described 
in  a  few  words  the  formation  of  geological  strata. 

Who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth, 

That  it  should  not  be  moved  for  ever. 

Thou  coveredst  it  with  the  deep  as  with  a  vesture; 

The  waters  stood  above  the  mountains. 

At  thy  rebuke  they  fled; 

At   the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they  hasted  away 

(The   mountains  rose,   the   valleys  sank  down) 

Unto   the  place   which   thou  hadst  founded  for  them. 

Thou  hast  set  a  bound  that  they  may  not  pass  over; 

That  they  turn  not  again  to  cover  the  earth. 

Subsequent  verses  tell  how  this  made  possible  the 
formation  of  springs  of  water  which  form  rivers,  thereby 
making  plant  life  possible;  and  plant  life  making  animal 
life  possible;  all  of  which  makes  food  and  life  of  man 
possible.  Was  not  the  Psalmist  scientifically  exact  3.000 
years  ago  when  he  said  all  this?  Is  it  not  true  that  "the 
mountains  rose,  the  valleys  sank"? 

The  account  of  the  flood,  recorded  in  Genesis,  gives  the 
only  possible  explanation  of  the  discoveries  of  many 
fossil  remains  of  animals  which  were,  while  still  alive, 
submerged  in  mud  covering  large  areas  of  the  world. 

Interior  of  the  Earth.  Some  scientists  believe  that 
the  earth's  interior  is  a  molten  mass;  others  say  that  this  is 
true  only  of  local  areas.  In  either  case,  the  Apostle  Peter 
was  2,000  years  ahead  of  modern  science  when  he  wrote, 
"The  earth  is  stored  with  fire"  (2  Pet.  3:7,  R.  V. 
margin)  .  He  may  have  been  still  ahead  of  modern  sci- 
ence when  he  added,  "against  the  day  of  judgment."  The 
world  has  often  seen,  in  small  areas,  the  destruction 
wrought  by  volcanoes,  and  Christ  and  all  those  He  taught 
have  predicted  that  there  will  be  "the  wrath  to  come." 

24 


Future  of  the  Earth.  Thompson,  the  well-known 
English  evolutionist,  says  that  the  universe  is  running 
down.  This  was  very  plainly  stated  2,000  years  ago  in 
Hebrews  1:10-12:  "And  thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning 
laid  the  foundalions  of  the  earth;  and  the  heavens  arc 
the  works  of  thine  hands.  They  shall  perish,  but  thou 
remainest;  and  they  shall  all  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment, 
and  as  a  vesture  shalt  thou  fold  them  up  and  they  shall 
be  changed;  but  thou  art  the  same  and  thy  years  shall 
not  fail." 

21.    The  Bible  is  Logically  Correct. 

The  Bible  is  true  to  our  intuition  of  cause  and  effect 
and  therefore  scientifically  correct  as  to  the  author  of  the 
universe. 

"To  an  unprejudiced  mind,  ten  thousand  thousand  in- 
stances of  design  cannot  but  prove  a  Designer." — Butler. 

The  only  scientific  attitude  which  can  enable  any  one 
to  understand  the  organs  and  arrangement  of  any  animal, 
plant,  insect,  or  machine,  from  a  bee  to  a  balloon,  is 
expressed  most  often  in  the  Bible.  A  scientist  should  be 
able  to  say.  "The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork."  The  Bible  goes 
still  further  and  teaches  that  the  Designer  is  also  the  Ob- 
server, the  Judge,  and  the  Rewarder.  "He  that  planteth 
the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear?  He  that  formed  the  eye,  shall 
he  not  see?"  (Psa.  94:9).  This  is  the  only  scientific 
attitude  in  the  study  of  nature.  In  no  other  way  can  one 
be  sure  of  "thinking  God's  thoughts  after  Him." 

Most  people  believe  that  the  visible  universe  is  an 
effect.  An  effect  connotes  a  cause.  Many  prominent  evo- 
lutionists postulate  some  Indefinite  first  cause;  the  Chris- 
tian is  better  satisfied  intellectually  by  the  sublime  first 
verse  of  Genesis,  "In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth." 

25 


Any  process  of  evolution  is  only  an  effect,  but  many 
so-called  scientists  speak  of  evolution  as  if  it  were  a  cause, 
for  many  a  happy  escape  from  theism.  This  position  is 
less  scientific  than  the  attitude  of  the  most  primitive  wor- 
shiper of  fetishes,  because  he  honestly  tri<l  to  postulate  an 
adeauatc  cause  for  the  phenomena  of  his  environment. 
The  position  of  scientists  who  teach  evolution  is  both 
unscientific  and  illogical.  It  does  violence  to  one's  intu- 
ition of  cause  and  effect:  it  is  an  insult  to  one's  intelli- 
gence; it  is  an  affront  to  God. 

The  Bible,  in  Psalm  104,  teaches  that  plants  and  ani- 
mals were  created  before  man  was  created  in  order  to  make 
human  life  possible.  When  a  man  who  calls  himself  a 
scientist  says  that  the  innumerable  and  infinitely  delicate 
relations  between  the  temperature,  the  humidity  of  the 
air,  and  plant  and  animal  life,  and  between  the  earth  and 
the  sun,  and  between  the  solar  system  and  the  sidereal, 
universe  is  the  result  of  "natural  selection"  or  any  auto- 
matic "cosmic  process,"  or  the  result  of  "resident  forces," 
he  must  have  more  confidence  in  the  intelligence  and  fore- 
sight of  atoms  than  of  men. 

22.    The  Bible  is  Scientifically  Correct. 

The  Bible  was  written  with  an  obviously  religious  and 
not  a  scientific  purpose.  It  claims  to  be  the  revelation 
of  God's  purposes  for  man ;  but  it  is  often  said  apologeti- 
cally that  the  Bible  is  not  a  scientific  book,  as  if  to  imply 
that  although  the  Bible  contains  errors  about  the  visible 
world,  it  is  nevertheless  trustworthy  concerning  the  in- 
visible world.  This  is  a  very  doubtful  defense  of  "the 
word  of  God"  and  quite  contrary  to  the  logic  of  Christ's 
own  statement,  "If  I  have  told  you  earthly  things  and  ye 
believe  not,  how  shall  ye  believe  if  I  tell  you  heavenly 
things?" 

26 


After  a  few  years,  almost  every  scientific  book  becomes 
"out-of-date."  It  ceases  to  be  "scientific."  Was  it, 
therefore,  actually  scientific  a  few  years  before? 

One  of  the  greatest  proofs  of  the  divine  inspiration  of 
the  Bible  is  that  it  nowhere  endorses,  even  indirectly,  any 
of  the  endless  theories  which  scientific  men  of  all  history 
have  held  and  abandoned.  Any  ordinary  human  writer, 
at  least  to  be  diplomatic  or  to  appeal  to  popular  ideas, 
would  have  alluded  to  some  of  the  endless  astrological, 
biological,  medical,  and'  other  pseudo-scientific  theories 
which  abound  in  all  the  old  literatures  of  the  world. 

If  any  Bible  writer  had  tried  to  be  "scientific"  in  the 
opinion  of  any  generation  of  the  past,  the  whole  Bible 
would  have  ceased  to  be  scientific  for  all  time.  There- 
fore, the  Bible  writers  had  to  be  two  or  three  thousand 
years  ahead  of  all  science. 

Only  a  few  years  ago,  scientists  demanded  that  Chris- 
tians accept  Darwinism  regardless  of  the  Bible.  Now 
most  scientists  have  rejected  Darwinism.  Darwin  did  so 
himself  when  he  said.  "Hybridism  is  one  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  to  the  general  acceptance  of  the  great  principle 
of  evolution"  (^Cross  and  Self -Fertilization,  ch.  1,  p.  27). 
Why,  then,  waste  time  on  any  temporary  theory  which 
contradicts  the   Bible? 

THE  Bible  is  Not  an  Enemy  to  Science.  Ene- 
mies of  the  Bible  cite  persecution  of  scientists  by  the 
church  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  prove  that  the  Bible  is 
against  human  liberty  and  progress.  But  their  argu 
ments  prove  the  opposite,  because  these  persecutions  not 
only  ceased,  but  the  world  began  to  make  unprecedented 
progress  as  soon  as  the  public,  in  spite  of  the  church 
ecclesiastics,  got  possession  of  the  Bible,  and  began  to 
study  it.  The  inventor  of  printing  appropriately 
printed  the  Bible  first  of  all.     Innumerable  inventions  and 

27 


discoveries  have  been  made  by  men  who  have  studied  the 
Bible. 

The  limits  of  this  article  do  not  permit  any  discussion 
of  difficulties  in  the  Bible  or  science.  All  progress  in 
knowledge  results  from  studying  what  we  do  not  under- 
stand. No  one  advocates  stopping  the  study  of  the 
physical  world  because  of  the  conflicting  ideas  of  scien- 
entific  study.  St.  Peter  said  the  Old  Testament  prophets 
were  expected  to  study  their  own  prophecies  ( 1  Pet.  1  : 
II).  According  to  one  biographer,  Newton,  who  had 
one  of  the  greatest  intellects  of  all  history,  and  whose 
inventions  involved  much  of  hiigher  mathematics,  spent 
more  of  his  time  studying  the  Bible,  especially  the  prophe- 
cies of  Daniel,   than  scientific  subjects. 

How  few  among  modern  clergymen  are  more  than 
aware  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel !  The  popular  modern 
method  of  Bible  study  is  an  attempt  to  deny  or  to  evade 
the  plainest  statements  of  Scripture  on  the  theory  that  the 
Old  Testament  books  were  written  by  forgers  years  after 
the  events  described  or  predicted.  However,  forgers  never 
could  have  written  the  Old  Testament  books,  and  they 
are  the  source  of  all  authority  according  to  repeated  state- 
ments of  Christ. 

Christ  endorsed  the  accuracy  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
the  most  extravagant  language  possible.  He  endorsed  the 
historicity  of  the  story  of  Jonah  by  saying  that  the  men 
of  Nineveh  would  rise  in  the  judgment  and  condemn 
those  who  rejected  Christ's  words,  because  He  was  greater 
than  Jonah. 

The  anatomical  objectio.is  raised  by  sceptics  in  regard 
to  Jonah's  great  fish  are  disposed  of  by  such  a  capture  as 
that   of   the   ill   deep-sea    monster   in    Miami,    the   Rhino- 

28 


dontypicus,  on  January  3,  1912.  The  complete  sus- 
pension of  digestive  processes  which  occur  in  many  ill- 
nesses may  be  suggested  by  the  method  used  by  the  fish 
in  disposing  of  Jonah. 

The  Apostle  Peter,  who  forestalled  the  criticisms  of 
belated  modern  scholarship  by  stating  that  the  writings  of 
St.  Paul  were  already  in  his  day  recognized  as  on  the 
same  supernatural  level  as  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 
admitted  frankly  that  they  contained  many  things  "hard 
to  understand."  But  just  as  men  slowly  continue  to 
study  God's  material  world,  it  would  seem  wiser  to  fol- 
low all  the  repeated  commands  and  "search  the  scriptures" 
rather  than  jeopardize  one's  immortal  soul  by  discredit- 
ing the  Bible  because  one  does  not  fully  understand  every- 
thing in  it,  especially  if  it  involves  contradicting  Him 
who  said  even  of  the  much-attacked  Pentateuch,  "There 
is  one  that  accuseth  you,  even  Moses,  For  had  ye  believed 
Moses,  ye  would  have  believed  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me. 
But  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings,  how  shall  ye  believe 
my  words?"      (John  5:45-47). 

The  Bible  never  contradicts  any  proved  facts  of  science. 
In  view  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  this 
shows  the  supernatural  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the 
Bible  writers. 

One  great  proof  of  the  scientific  attitude  of  the  Bible 
writers  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  carefully  explain  that  the 
miracles  were  the  acts  of  the  Creator  of  the  universe  and 
its  laws,  and  that  He  performed  the  miracles  only  to  pre- 
serve the  physical  or  moral  life  of  certain  men  or  of  the 
one  nation  in  the  world  through  which  was  to  come  the 
Messiah,  the  Holy  One  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
No  other  nation  had  ever  had.  or  ever  would  have  had 
the  necessary  moral  standards  of  the  true  Israelites.  As 
Christ  said,   "Salvation  is  of  the  Jews." 

29 


In  America,  many  scientific  gentlemen  are  ready  to  be- 
lieve that  the  spiritualists  can  perform  supernatural  acts 
for  mere  financial  profit. 

Nowadays  every  one  is  ready  to  believe  that  every 
grain  of  sand  consists  of  innumerable  rapidly  moving  solar 
systems  of  electrons.  This  is  quite  unimaginable,  quite 
as  incredible  as  anything  in  the  Bible. 

No  one  can  understand  how  gravitation  pulls  objects  at 
a  distance.  Yet  a  man  must  believe  it,  to  be  scientific. 
No  one  understands  electricity,  or  force,  or  mind,  or  will, 
or  unending  stellar  space,  or  eternity  of  time.  Yet  no 
sane  person  dare  ignore  these  facts.  No  one  could  live 
many  minutes  if  he  tried  to  ignore  every  physical  law 
which  he  does  not  understand.  Can  any  sane  person 
afford  to  ignore  the  Bible  just  because  he  does  not  un- 
derstand everything  in  it? 

One  of  the  most  solemn  statements  in  all  history  is  the 
quotation  from  the  sixth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  made  both  by 
Christ  and  by  the  Apostle  Paul  when  they  were  finally 
rejected  by  their  hearers.  In  this  brief  statement  it  is 
declared  that,  if  a  man  does  not  wish  to  believe,  God  will 
arrange  matters  so  that  he  cannot. 

To  most  people,  the  words  "evolution"  and  "science" 
are  synonymous;  but  evolution  is  a  philosophical  hypothe- 
sis not  accepted  by  all  and  contrary  to  the  Bible  from 
the  creation  in  Genesis  to  the  catastrophies  of  Revelation, 
because  the  Bible  describes  increasing  moral  corruption  and 
physical  deterioration  from  the  Fall  to  the  Deluge.  It 
tells,  in  the  old  Testament,  of  spiritual  and  moral  decline 
from  Noah  to  Abraham,  and  from  Abraham  through  all 
Jewish  history  to.  the  destruction  of  Israel  and  Judah; 
and    the    New    Testament    predicts    the    apostasy    of    the 

30 


church.  On  the  other  hand,  all  sane  people  are  inter- 
ested in  all  the  discoveries  and  inventions  of  scientists. 
One  can  believe  the  Bible  and  be  quite  as  scientific  as  the 
evolutionist,  because  the  mental  reaction  of  the  evolution- 
ist to  every  fact  is  predetermined  by  his  theory.  He  can- 
not have  an  open  mind.  This  is  often  the  case.  For  in- 
stance, it  is  evident,  when  most  men  are  discussing  the 
results  of  prohibition,  that  they  are  not  discussing  the  facts, 
but  merely  the  reaction  of  each  man's  stomach  to  alcoholic 
drinks.  As  some  one  said,  "Give  me  a  theory  and  the 
facts  will  take  care  of  themselves." 

The  recent  disgraceful  quarrel  of  French  scientists  over 
the  Glozel  excavations  shows  how  bitterly  partisan,  how 
jealous  of  reputation,  how  diametrically  opposed  whole 
groups  of  scientists  may  be. 

Therefore,  the  words  of  Sir  J.  William  Dawson,  a 
reverent  and  careful  Bible  student  as  well  as  a  dis- 
tinguished scientist,  are  as  true  today  as  when  he  wrote 
them:  "It  will  therefore  be  the  safest  as  well  as  the 
most  candid  and  truthful  course,  both  for  the  scientific 
worker  and  the  theologian,  to  avoid  committing  himself 
to  any  of  the  current  forms  of  evolution." 


31 


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Is  the  Bible  scientifically  correct? 

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